General Assembly Observes Nelson Mandela International Day

Secretary-General António Guterres (left) presents the 2025 United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize to Brenda Reynolds of Saulteaux First Nation and Canada during the informal meeting on the observance of the annual Nelson Mandela International Day.

Brenda Reynolds is a social worker, who turned her struggle against the most hideous of crimes against children into a national force for change, supporting and developing trauma responses for survivors and families of the residential schools system.

Formal recognition of the two 2025 United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize Laureates is taking place during the meeting. The 2025 Prize is awarded to Mrs. Brenda Reynolds of Saulteaux First Nation and Canada, and Mr. Kennedy Odede of Kenya. The Prize aims to recognize the achievements of those who dedicated their lives to the service of humanity as guided by the purposes and principles of the UN, while honouring and paying homage to Mandela's extraordinary life and legacy of reconciliation, political transition and social transformation. It is awarded every five years and was first awarded in 2015.